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It’s October – definitely the time to bring out (or in) some pumpkins for decoration. For me pumpkins are the essence of fall – the colors, the texture, the aroma – and the taste of pumpkin soup (and pumpkin muffins and pumpkin pie and ….)

Last year I was invited to a Thanksgiving dinner and I decided to bring some pumpkins as a gift. But not the real ones but pumpkins made out of fabric. They are fun to sew and pretty fast to finish. And I bet you will find everything you need waiting in your stash. Make them big (as decoration), medium-sized for the mantelpiece or small as a pincushion.As the host was really thrilled by this gift I thought you might like them too.

For the pumpkins you need

yellow and orange fabric – search your stash, you don’t need much

green fabric or green felt for the leaves

brown fabric for the stem

perl cotton for the embroidery

Download the pattern pieces (below) and cut them out. The seam allowance is already included.

For the pumpkin cut the pattern out of the chosen fabric. You need 16 pieces. Cut them all out of one fabric or cut 8 light and 8 darker ones.

Pin 2 pieces together on the shorter concave side. Sew 2 of the pieces together. If you use 2 fabrics these 2 pieces should be of different fabrics. Sew 8 pairs.

Then sew 2 pairs together and then join the 2 halves of the pumkin. Leave a – not too small – opening when joining the 2 halves. Backstitch at the beginning and end of this last seam.

Turn the pumkin and smooth out all the seam lines using a chopstick or a large knitting needle.

Stuff the pumpkin with pieces of batting and handstitch the opening close.

Cut the pattern of the stem out of brown fabric, fold in half, left side (= backside of the fabric) looking out und sew the sides and the top of the fabric together. Turn right side out and stuff with batting.

For the leave cut 2 rectangles 6 x 6 inches /15 x 15 cm out of the green fabric. Mark the pattern of the leaf on the backside of one green fabric, pin the 2 fabrics right side together and sew around the leaf, leaving the bottom of the leaf open. Cut out the leaf with a small seam allowance and turn right sides out. Sew the veins by machine or by hand.

If you use felt then just cut out the leaf and embroider the veins with perl cotton.

Sew the stem to the pumpkin catching the open side of the leaf at the same time.

I put some perl cotton (in contrasting color) between the segments of the yellow pumpkin to highlight the structure. Cut some pieces of yarn, wrap them around the pumpkin and knot them on the top. I used different colors of thread (green, brown, yellow and purple). When knotting the thread you can knot in some fresh leaves, some ivy or a stick. To get the twine wrap the ends of the threads around a stick or a pencil and spray some starch on it. Carefully remove the pencil or the stick when the starch is dry.

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About me

Hi, I'm Gabi and I live in Vienna, Austria in the middle of Europe.
Quiltartnews is all about my adventures in patchwork and quilting as well as glimpses into my life and the occasional travel photos.
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Contact: gabi@quiltartnews.com